AAMC Mailing Lists

Student Survey Advisory Committee

Summer 2015

The Student Survey Advisory Committee (SSAC) is made up of constituents from many groups across the AAMC, including the OSR, ORR, GEA, GDI, and GSA. The role of the SSAC is to advise the AAMC staff responsible for administering the AAMC’s national surveys to medical school applicants and medical students on the content as well as timing and format of the surveys.

There are currently four surveys issued by the AAMC, including the Post-MCAT Questionnaire (PMQ), Matriculating Student Questionnaire (MSQ), Year Two Questionnaire (Y2Q), and Graduation Questionnaire (GQ). Data collected from these surveys are important for schools to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement; for LCME accreditation activities; and for evaluation of trends in medical education.

The Y2Q was distributed to second year medical students for the first time in Fall 2014. The survey aimed to assess the medical student learning environment, which spanned topics beyond student mistreatment, such as the emotional climate and student-student interactions. The first national report was released in March 2015 and is now available online.

Questions regarding gender identity and sexual orientation were included for the first time on the MSQ in Summer 2014, as were then included on the 2014 Y2Q. Incorporating questions on gender identity and sexual orientation function to gauge the medical school experience for students who self-identify as LGBT and to measure change in the medical student population over time. Results of these questions were only released on the national reports in December 2014 for the MSQ and in February 2015 for the Y2Q. Both of these reports are available online.

The SSAC convenes for a formal, in-person meeting each fall at the AAMC headquarters in Washington, D.C.; conference calls are held intermittently throughout the year.